The African Peer Review Mechanism report compiled by a panel of continental elders submitted a 300-page report to President Thabo Mbeki's government about three weeks ago, the Sunday Times said.

The newspaper quoted the report, which will be presented to African leaders in January, as saying that the country had either the world's highest or second highest murder rate, adding: "The distinctive feature of crime in South Africa is not its volume but its violence.

"Crime is one of the most difficult of the many challenges facing South Africa in the post-apartheid era," the report said, referring to the end of white-minority racist rule in 1994.

No South African is immune

"No South African is insulated from its effects. Beyond the pain and loss suffered by the crime victims, crime also has direct costs" on health, productivity, investment and economic growth, it said.

The report pinpointed the high levels of crime against women and children and blamed the steep level of unemployment -- officially pegged at 25.6 percent but almost double that according to others -- for the lawlessness.

The African Peer Review Mechanism was set up as part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) — a homespun continental plan aimed at lifting the world's poorest region out of misery and misgovernance.

The self-monitoring mechanism of the African Union aims to "foster the adoption of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development," and good governance, according to its charter.

The chief co-architects of the Nepad is South Africa's Mbeki, who leads the continent's economic powerhouse.

Assessment by peers

So far, 25 African countries have signed up to be assessed by their peers. Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya have already been reviewed but the reports have not been formally released.

According to the latest South African crime figures, cash heists shot up by 74.1 percent in the 2005-06 financial year compared with the previous 12 months but murders fell by two percent.

There were 383 cash heists in 2005-06 against 220 a year earlier while the number of reported murders clocked 18 528 — a two-percent decline but falling short of the seven- to 10-percent decrease that police had been hoping for.

South Africa is cracking down on crime to improve its image as a safe destination before it hosts the 2010 World Cup.

A total of 18 793 murders were reported in the country of 46 million over the 2004-05 financial year, according to national crime statistics. More than 55 000 rape cases were reported by police in 2005.

A possible World Cup deterrent

The new US ambassador to South Africa Eric Bost last week voiced concern about burgeoning crime, which he said could deter World Cup enthusiasts.

"Who is going to be interested in spending a significant amount of money coming here ... when you're concerned about the possibility of being hurt," he told the Sunday Times in an interview last week.

Bost said the German ambassador had told him that a group of German tour operators who visited South Africa on a reconnaissance mission ahead of the World Cup were robbed.

'What are you going to say?'

"So you're in Berlin. You're sitting at your desk, someone comes in and they say: 'You know, I'm thinking of going to the World Cup down in South Africa, what do you think about that?' What are you going to say?"

The AU-sponsored report also hit out against a government policy to empower the previously disadvantaged black majority, saying it only enriched a handful and encouraged politicians to go into business.

It also said that "race relations remain brittle and sensitive", adding that "many whites, coloureds (mixed race people) and Indians feel alienated and marginalised" in the new "Rainbow Nation".

AFP